Pinellas County investigators, working with state and federal agents, have charged 10 people who they say were involved in manufacturing and distributing synthetic marijuana in Pinellas and seven states other than Florida.

The 11-month investigative collaboration among the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Tampa office and the Office of Statewide Prosecution led to the arrests in early April.

The ring sold the synthetic marijuana, illegal in Florida, at four local convenience stores and shipped at least 1,000 parcels weighing nearly 150 pounds via UPS since 2011 to Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Texas, Nevada and New Hampshire, officials said.

"It's adversely affecting our community, it has delusional qualities to it, it's not marijuana, it doesn't mellow people out and it really is a problem," said Sheriff Bob Gualtieri on Tuesday.